Ranching is a 24 hour a day, 365 day a year job!
If calves aren't arriving in the middle of a blizzard at 3am, then some ornery critter has lead the herd out onto the highway at midnight. Neither situation will wait until you get your beauty rest!
By the way folks! In the state of Montana we have what we call the "open range" law. That means if there are cattle on the highway, whether they wandered there by accident, or they are being herded to a different area, they have the right-of-way! So please slow down to a crawl & watch for critters who like to dart out in front of you without warning. They do...& they will! This will include calves, riders, cows & even stock dogs!
First you have to bring the horses in from out in the pasture. After all...that's how you work with your cattle...on horseback!
Horses out here fend for themselves when it comes to eating, drinking & predators. Though we would defend them in a heartbeat if necessary, they usually do pretty good on their own.
The horses out here don't live in a nice comfortable barn. They stay out on the open range year-round. We feed them hay when the snows come, & chop holes in the ice daily throughout the winter for them, but other than that, they make it on their own.
These are tough animals & most require an experienced rider. Most of them still have a little buck left in them!
These are not pampered pets, and have been raised for generations to withstand the harsh winters their ancestors originally dealt with.
The next step is to gather the herd into one huge mass of horn & hide.
Some of the herds we gather can numbers upwards of 500 head. This is not an area for someone to be if they do not know what they are doing. All totaled, we run about 9500 head (that includes cows, calves & bulls).
Once the herd is gathered, we separate the cows from the calves to be shipped by truck to their summer pastures.
If it isn't to far to travel, the herd can be driven by horseback to their new summer home.
The cows and calves must be separated in the trucks so the cows don't accidently knock over a calf and stomp it to death.
Each truck has matching pairs of mama & baby cows, so when they get to their destination they can be immediately reunited.
Upon arrival, each truck is unloaded and the cows & calves are given time to "mother-up" before the next truck is unloaded.
If you were to unload all the trucks at once...well, let's just say you'd have one heck of a wreck!
The cows and calves are kept in a tight circle by riders on horseback. If you don't keep them together, the mamas will run off to find their babies & might possibly start a stampede! And that could be deadly.
Once the cows & calves of all the trucks are unloaded and mothered-up, we move them to the nearest water supply so they know where to find it & let them relax after their trip.
The bulls are brought in separately about a month or so later. They are permitted to stay only for a scheduled time period so calves are all born around the same time. We run about one bull for every 15 cows. Lucky bulls!
